* Activists say contracts given to firms with no experience
* Say transparent bidding process lacking
* State oil firm denies any wrongdoing
By Tim Cocks
LAGOS, May 3 (Reuters) - Nigerian lawmakers said that nextweek they will investigate deals in which the state-oil firmgave two local firms with no previous operating experience therights to make potentially billions of dollars from oilfieldswithout competitive bidding.
Local activists raised the issue with the parliament lastweek, while Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) hasdenied any wrongdoing.
"We have invited them (the activists) to come and table thematter and substantiate their claims ... We have also invitedNNPC to get their side," Senator Emmanuel Paulker, the head ofthe Senate committee on upstream oil and gas, told Reuters.
The lower house passed a motion late on Thursday toinvestigate the deals, which activists say cast doubt on pledgesby President Goodluck Jonathan's government to improvetransparency and end an era of backroom deals that havecharacterised Africa's biggest energy industry for decades.
Activists say multi-layered deals on oil blocks throughsecretive local companies, often lacking technical expertise,are at best inefficient and at worst an avenue for corruption.
In 2011, Septa Energy and newly formed Atlantic Energy,owned by tycoon Jide Omokore, signed "strategic partnershipagreements" with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company(NPDC) to help it operate oil mining leases (OMLs) 4, 38, 41,and 30, 34, respectively.
Reuters obtained copies of the deals on Friday.
The chief executive of Atlantic Energy Scott Aitken waspreviously the head of Seven Energy, which owns Septa. Neithercompany was immediately available for comment.
"NO NEED FOR BIDDING PROCESS"
Activists from a region of the Niger Delta, where the blocksrun by Atlantic Energy are located, allege the deals breachrules requiring the government to openly tender for stakes inoil blocks. They also accuse Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Maduekeof having an indirect financial interest in Atlantic, which wasdenied by the state oil firm that she heads.
"The protesters complained of the secret and arbitraryfarm-out of (the blocks) ... to both Atlantic Energy DrillingConcept and Septa Energy Limited without regard to the law anddue process," Afam Ogene, the proposer of the motion, toldparliament late on Thursday.
The NNPC, the NPDC's umbrella company, said in an emailedstatement there was legally no requirement to tender the deals.
"There was never any sale of equity involved ... As such,there is no need for a bidding process," it said.
"There is no evidence indicating that the honourableminister of petroleum resources has any direct or indirectpecuniary interest in the company (Atlantic)," it added.
Former operator Royal Dutch Shell sold its 45percent stake in the blocks to various bidders, includingHeritage Oil and a consortium involving Eland Oil in 2011. At the same time NNPC transferred its 55percent stake to its production arm NPDC.
NPDC then planned to operate the blocks itself but industryexperts say it lacked the capacity or finances to do so.
The agreements struck with Atlantic and Septa were supposedto resolve this, but the companies quickly sub-contracted outthe work to other oil operators with relevant experience.
"It is worrisome that the entire racket became possiblethrough a mischievous process of hinging the transaction on thestrategic alliance agreement, an action deliberately designed tocircumvent due process and transparency," Ogene said.
Copies of the original agreements obtained by Reuters showAtlantic gets 30 percent of oil profits from OML 34 and 30,while SEPTA gets 10 percent of oil profits on OMLs 4, 38 and 41.